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Harriet Heron's life is almost over before it has even begun. At just twenty-three years of age, she is an invalid, over-protected and reclusive. Before it is too late, she must escape the fog of Victorian London for a place where she can breathe.

Together with her devoted mother, Louisa, her god-fearing aunt, Yael, and a book of her own spells inspired by the Egyptian Book of the Dead, Harriet travels to a land where the air is tinged with rose and gold and for the first time begins to experience what it is to live. But a chance meeting on the voyage to Alexandria results in a dangerous friendship as Louisa's long-buried past returns, in the form of someone determined to destroy her by preying upon her daughter.

As Harriet journeys towards a destiny no one could have foreseen, her aunt Yael is caught up in an Egypt on the brink of revolt and her mother must confront the spectres of her own youth.

Award-winning journalist and writer Wendy Wallace spins a tale of three women caught between propriety and love on a journey of cultural awakening through an exquisitely drawn Egypt. In prose both sumptuous and mesmeric, she conjures a sensibility akin to that of E M Forster and Merchant Ivory.

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Review

'Exquisitely written. A haunting and mystical story of three women who search for freedom, whether in Victorian England or the tombs of ancient Egypt' --Essie Fox, author of The Somnambulist and Elijah's Mermaid

'The great strength of Wallace's second novel, The Sacred River, is the deep research that enables her to offer us the taste and texture of Egypt in the nineteenth century… Historical romance it certainly is, but it's much more than that. Far more than the romance, the harsh details of what poverty and ignorance did to children, and what the state did to poor men who failed to pay their tax bills, are what makes this compulsive reading' --Francis Beckett, U3A magazine Third Age Matters

'Three women take a life-changing trip from Victorian London to sweltering Egypt... Mesmerising historical fiction' --GoodHousekeeping, September issue

'This may be my ideal escapist historical novel, ticking any number of boxes. It's Victorian pastiche of the highest order, with wonderfully eccentric female characters, exciting settings and a good dash of modern awareness... A fantastic piece of storytelling' --Kate Saunders, Saga magazine, September issue

Praise for THE PAINTED BRIDGE:

'A haunting look at women's asylums in 1850s England … Wallace masterfully creates an atmosphere of utter claustrophobia and dread, intermingled with the ever-present horror of the reality of women's minimal rights in the 19th century' --Publishers Weekly

'An intriguing and disturbing tale of the reality of women's lives behind the veil of Victorian respectability, which will have resonance today. Beautifully written and evoked' --Rachel Hore, Richard & Judy bestselling author of A Gathering Storm

'An impressive debut with a captivating heroine and an absorbing storyline … A compulsive page-turner' --Catharine Arnold, author of Bedlam

Praise for THE PAINTED BRIDGE:

'A haunting look at women's asylums in 1850s England … Wallace masterfully creates an atmosphere of utter claustrophobia and dread, intermingled with the ever-present horror of the reality of women's minimal rights in the 19th century' Publishers Weekly

'An intriguing and disturbing tale of the reality of women's lives behind the veil of Victorian respectability, which will have resonance today. Beautifully written and evoked' Rachel Hore, Richard & Judy bestselling author of A Gathering Storm

'A haunting look at women's asylums in 1850s England … Wallace masterfully creates an atmosphere of utter claustrophobia and dread, intermingled with the ever-present horror of the reality of women's minimal rights in the 19th century' Publishers Weekly

'An intriguing and disturbing tale of the reality of women's lives behind the veil of Victorian respectability, which will have resonance today. Beautifully written and evoked' Rachel Hore, Richard & Judy bestselling author of A Gathering Storm

Top customer reviews

Wendy Wallace's exquisitely-written novel begins with an extraordinary image: in the poisonous smog of Victorian London, the mother of a dying girl finds a dead blackbird in her garden; but when she tries to throw away the fragile body, it suddenly takes flight and vanishes into the smoke.

This emblematic resurrection opens the story of young Harriet, her lungs damaged by the toxic fumes and fogs of industrial London, who is taken by her mother and aunt to Egypt in a desperate attempt to restore her health before it is too late. In a vivid new world of heat, dust, danger and romance, all three women are to spread their wings in different ways. But nothing is quite as simple as it seems, and deadly danger follows them from England, in the shape of Eyre, a twisted young artist who plans to seduce, corrupt and destroy the vulnerable Harriet.

To explain more would be to spoil the reader's enjoyment of this richly-layered and intelligent novel, which interweaves a number of fascinating stories, some tragic, some illuminated by hope.

Not a "romance" in the shallow sense -- Wendy Wallace's touch is much too sure for that -- this is still a deeply romantic novel full of passion and compassion. And, among other things, it is a scathing indictment of male Victorian attitudes towards women, confronting the casual everyday cruelties and crushing lifelong brutality with which men treated their wives and mistresses.

I absolutely loved this book, and highly recommend it to all enthusiasts of Victorian fiction.

The story is set in the Victorian era and involves characters introduced in the equally readable 'The Painted Bridge'.Harriet is very ill, with recurrant and life-threatening asthma attacks. But despite her condition she has kept herself occupied by learning the meanings of hieroglyphics.As a result of this she becomes fascinated by Egypt and when the family doctor suggests an extended trip abroad for her health, Harriet persuades her mother, Lousia, to take her to Egypt. They are accompanied by her Aunt Yael. It will be a voyage of self-discovery for each of the women, particularly as the country is on the brink of revolt.The novel has a feel of an EM Forster (even though the book is set in the Victorian era) but written in a way that conveys the details of the leisurely life of the privileged while keeping tight control of several strands of a busy plot. The result is a story which moves at a good pace. There is also a sense of a Victorian melodrama, which only heightens expectation and helps to move the story alone.Although the book is effortless to read, the reader has the sense of being taken through some epic events in the women's lives.

Wallace's second novel opens in Victorian London, where Harriet, a young lady of good family, is suffering torture from her asthma. She's read widely during her long illness, and longs to see Egypt, where she believes she will become well. After consulting the family doctor, Harriet, her mother Louisa and her aunt Yael set off for the Middle East. Each will have a different adventure there. Yael, who has spent most of her life caring for her own parents, becomes involved in missionary work and determined to help the poor in Alexandria. Harriet develops a great passion for Egyptian archeology and learns how to decipher hieroglyphics - she soon becomes close friends with a gentle German archeologist who encourages her towards an independent career as a scholar of ancient Egypt. However, Harriet is in danger, as she's being pursued by an English artist, who plans to seduce her - as his father did Louisa. And his presence causes Louisa to recall her own troubled past, which takes her to the edge of sanity. Meanwhile, the political climate in Egypt is growing more troubled - will our heroines see England again?

Wallace's novel is probably not the first book to read if you want a serious examination of Egypt in the 1880s. The tone veers towards rather overblown melodrama at times - particularly in one scene involving Louisa and a gun. The young artist's reasons for wanting to corrupt Harriet are never adequately explained, and the Egyptian characters tend to be somewhat one-dimensional. There are some rather predictable scenes (someone gets trapped in an Egyptian tomb, for example, and someone else gets caught up in a riot) and the book ends very abruptly. Nevertheless, I have to say that there were things that I admired about the book. Wallace's style is very readable, and she really brings the heat and dust of Egypt and its beauty to life. Yael and Harriet are both in their ways genuinely interesting women, and if Louisa tends to fall somewhat into the stereotype of hysterical Victorian woman, we still care about her. And the German scholar who falls for Harriet is genuinely appealing. The plot, if overblown, rattles along convincingly, and one always wants to read on.

A light read then, and not the most subtle evocation of Victorians abroad - but very good downtime reading. I look forward to reading Wallace's first novel soon.